A sad end to a great Art Car Parade weekend... Tom Jones, the Art Car Museum curator, was killed by a drunk driver only hours after the Art Car Parade early this morning (Sunday, May 11th) in front of the Museum. Tom was a fixture in the Art Car community and Houston art scene at large and had been with the Houston Art Car Museum for 25 years. You can watch an interview with......

The hip hop community is still mourning the loss of Pimp C on Tuesday. The news spread like wildfire across blogs and other web-based information sources. Hip hop artists and Houstonians alike packed the phone lines of G-Man's afternoon show on 97.9 The Box. Tribute videos and compilations started popping up on the Net Tuesday afternoon. The first video above is a compilation of photos set to Lil Flip's Pimp C Tribute song. The second......

Update: Yesterday's news of Pimp C's dead shot across the city of Houston via blogs, message boards, and shocked emails. Rumors of foul play, even a mention of fellow rapper Spice 1 also being involved in a shooting, buzzed around town. The two incidents are not thought to be related. Capt. Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County coroner's office said Butler had apparently died in bed. "At this time there's no signs of foul......

Houston rapper Pimp C was found dead this morning in his hotel room on LA's Sunset Strip. Pimp C had performed with Too Short on Saturday evening at the House of Blues. Pitchfork reports "L.A. firefighters responded to a 911 call at the Sunset Strip's Mondrian Hotel, where they found the rapper dead in his bed. No information on cause of death has been given at this time." Pimp C, born Chad Butler, was one......

December already? Everything is reversed from the summer: back then, the Astros were dead in the water, the upcoming Texans season looked promising because of some new additions, and the Dynamo were gearing up to defend their MLS Cup title. Now, the Texans are DOA, the Astros are looking exciting next year, and the Dynamo, well, at least someone's consistent. Here's what's been going on this week in the Houston sports blogosphere: - The Dynamo......

It's party time! Folks in Tanglewood had a picnic-style party to celebrate the demolition of 5506 Russett St. (5537 got it too), where the owners are going to build a new home. It was an eerie farewell complete with champagne, snacks, and the oohs and aahs of the little kiddos when the bulldozer smashed into the roof of the 5,500 square foot teardown. Is anyone really trying to sell this house? The person who......

Meyerland's Carousel House came crashing down today - the property's new owner Marvin Granit decided to hurry up and get it over with, just a day before Thanksgiving. The house has been an interesting architectural fixture in Houston since it was built by Robert Cohen in 1964, and has had a resurgence of attention since the previous owner John O'Quinn put it on the market. We featured the endangered home in late August, the Chronicle's......

Houstonist noticed about a month ago that something was missing near the corner of Bissonnet and Mt. Vernon streets, just west of Montrose Blvd. The house didn't seem to fit in, but it sure caught our eye - unfortunately it was recently demolished by the current owners. The house was located at 1 Waverly Court and was designed by Glassman Shoemake Maldonado Architects and built in 1999 to replace a beaten-up 1950s contemporary home by......

695 Rocky River - Tanglewood This week, the almost 5,000 square foot mid-century Tanglewood home designed by Ralph A. Anderson, Jr. (of Wilson, Morris, Crain & Anderson architects) met its demise - one in a series of many large (and large-lotted) unique mid-century homes in this close-in treed area to be replaced by even larger Mediterr-uscan-Spani-French style homes. According to the Houston Architectural Guide,The full impact of the Eisenhower era is visible here [in Tanglewood],......

Houstonist landed her after departing from a small media market town where the most colorful television news personality was the local weatherman with the bad toupee - think Brick from Anchorman. Naturally we were blown away by the loud delivery, blue sunglasses and long earlobes that were Marvin Zindler. His ear splitting delivery of his tag line - "MAR-vin ZINDLER, EYE-witness NEWS!" - emblazoned the phrase in the memories of Houstonians despite hearing it only......

A veritable Houston legend and one of our favorite local celebrities, KTRK's muckraking Marvin Zindler died today at 85 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He announced on air earlier this summer that he was suffering from cancer, but, characteristically, he didn't let it slow him down. In his last days, Zindler was still hard at work, filing reports and doing newscasts from his hospital bed. It's hard to say what exactly Zindler is "best-known"......

Harry James, the builder we wrote about yesterday, demolished the Doyle house at 945 Heights Blvd. earlier today. KHOU captured an aerial video of the demolition, which comes the day before a protest that was scheduled for tomorrow from 5-6 pm at the house. The house was over one hundred years old and had been owned by the Doyle family until local builder Harry James purchased it for demolition. Even though several buyers had apparently......

Houston has lost the 1929 Coca-Cola Bottling Plant (Pringle & Smith and Alfred C. Finn, architects), located on the east side of downtown at 2600 Capitol. The building was most recently occupied by Leggett's Fabrics, which relocated to Fort Bend County in 2005. The area is being redeveloped from industrial to residential, and there is a sign on the corner indicates that the new development will be called "Capitol Oaks Two," a supplement to......

Jack Valenti, the long-time head of the Motion Picture Association of America and Houston native passed away today at his home in Washington. He was 85 and still suffering the effects of a stroke he had in March. Valenti was born in Houston to Sicilian immigrants in 1921, growing up on the still unpaved streets of the 1st Ward. He traced his love of movies to a string of jobs working in downtown Houston movie......

FoxNews has confirmed that one of Houston's own, Anna Nicole Smith has passed away. Born Vickie Lynn Hogan on November 28, 1967 in Houston, Texas the "Reality TV Star" and former TrimSpa spokeswoman (who was just included in a class-action suit against the company) has passed away in Hollywood, Florida. She was found unresponsive in her hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel - where she had been photographed at a boxing match earlier......

The shot from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor groovehouse. This was too cool not to include, even if we're a day late: On January 25th, 2005 famed architect Philip Johnson passed away, he was 98 years old. Houston is fortunate to be graced with several wonderful buildings designed by Philip Johnson. Two of these are picture above, The University of St. Thomas and The Chapel of St. Thomas. He also designed two amazing......

The 1929 Robinson Public Warehouse (Nimmons, Carr, and Wright, architects), at the corner of Allen Parkway and Montrose Blvd, is on its way to the building afterlife. It was originally a Sears, Roebuck, and Co. store, and was also the first (and temporary) home of Baylor College of Medicine in the mid to late forties. Demolition is about to begin, and we've been watching for the wrecking ball which is due to make an......

Texas has lost a legend in Freddy Fender, who lost his battle with lung cancer this weekend at the age of 69, at his home in Corpus Christi, with his family by his side. Baldemar Huerta, now known to the world as Freddy Fender, was born in 1937 in San Benito, Texas in "The Valley", the son of migrant workers. He made his first radio appearance at the age of 10 in Harlingen. Regionally,......

By now, you've probably heard that former Gov. Ann Richards died last night of cancer at age 73. Richards is remembered for many things: being the first woman to win the Texas governorship outright, opening government positions up to women and minorities, vetoing a bill giving Texans the right to carry concealed weapons — but she may be most remembered for her wit, which contributed to the Texas-sized persona that made her a recognizable figure......

S.I. Morris, 91, leaves a legacy of renowned architecture and civic involvement. A 1935 Rice University graduate, Morris helped create the architectual firm Wilson, Morris, Crain, and Anderson, which is now known as Morris Architects. The firm was involved in the designing of the Astrodome, Wortham Center, and Pennzoil Place, among others. Morris spent the last decade as an advisor for Jackson & Ryan Architects. He was also involved with the Award for Design Excellence......

Sculptor Luis Jiménez, known for his grand works of art, left this world on Tuesday because of an accident in his Hondo, New Mexico studio. He was working on a commissioned fiberglass piece for the Denver airport. Houstonians may know him best for Vaquero, which is a tribute to cowboys that welcomes visitors to Moody Park. He was also a professor of painting and sculpture at the University of Houston. Born in El Paso, TX,......

Houston native singer-songwriter Billy Preston has died at age 59. Preston was the only artist to receive label credit on a Beatles single, and his collaborations with the Fab Four over the years gave him the "fifth-Beatle" nickname. Preston continued to work with George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr after the Beatles breakup. He also joined the Rolling Stones on tour in the early 70's. As a solo artist, he's best known for......

If it's true that celebrity deaths happen in threes, look for another local political figure to keel over at any moment: The first two, Harris County Treasurer Jack Cato and former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, have paved the way. Cato, a former newsman and HPD spokesman, died yesterday of heart failure while undergoing tests on his heart at St. Luke's Hospital. Cato was born in Chicago in 1935 and came to Houston in the 1950s.......

Longtime weathercaster Roland Galvan, formerly on the air in Houston, died Sunday in San Antonio after suffering from liver problems for about two years. While he was attending college at Trinity University in San Antonio, Galvan got a job at a local TV station as a technician, photographer and news producer. He later trained to be a weatherman and ended up working for stations across the country: in Beaumont and Houston, then San Francisco and......

Singer-songwriter Chris Whitley died Sunday in Houston. The 45-year-old was born in Houston but called various cities home throughout his career, including his last residence in New York City. The cause of death has not been publicized, but his tour schedule was canceled earlier this year because of complications with lung cancer. Chris created a sound of his own with his mix of blues and rock, his guitar playing and personal lyrics. He flirted......

Houstonist is well aware of the talented people this city produces. It’s not often that you come across a NFL football player, noted physicist and inventor — all in one. Alfred Hildebrand’s death last month was noted in yesterday’s Houston Chronicle. Although his career with the Houston Oilers was short-lived, his work at Spectra-Physics, developing the barcode scanner used at your favorite supermarket and retailer, will be remembered. Granted, Houstonist was a wee one......